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The 8th Deadly Sin of Shipping Steel Structures

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Last week we provided a blog of what we felt were the 7 Deadly Sins of Shipping Steel Structures and captured the most critical in the world we live in with Utility customers. 

However, it was quickly pointed out by some of our friends that not all structures are meant for that industry.  Some of you ship steel structures into the commercial and industrial market and many of those structures require painting prior to delivery.  That painting may only be a primer coat or may be some exotic finished coats of paint to give your products that long life needed to survive those environments.  Where is this going?  As noted, there might be an 8th “Deadly Sin” which could fit in that case. 

galvanized steel structure

 8. Never ship a painted steel structure that is not completely cured or dry.

Occasionally, structures are loaded onto flatbed trucks or rail cars and the painted coatings have not been allowed to adequately dry in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications.  This can cause real issues with that coating or with the finished coat, which will be applied later.  More often it is a cause of much grief between the trucking company, contractor and the owner.  In this situation, the fault is with who or what caused the painter to rush the steps required and not those downstream who handled the product. 

So why does the painter ship steel that is not completely dry? 

You might find that the painter was not provided adequate time to perform the work or that there is such pressure from the manufacturer to deliver the product they hope to “air dry” the product in route to the job site.  We all need to recognize that this attempt to rush this process only adds much effort and the resulting cost to the job and should be avoided at all costs.  Let’s all remind ourselves and our contractors to READ THE LABEL and allow for the adequate curing time for any coating so that this potential Deadly Sin can be avoided.

To our Friend on LINKEDIN, Thank you for bringing this potential 8th Deadly Sin to our attention and to your friends in the biz.

 

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